Monday, June 1, 2015

Everything from the chin down

Mindfulness
is the practice intentional, non-judgmental awareness. When in meditation, we
practice by bringing awareness to the breath, the sound-scape, or, in my case,
I often focus on the color display that I see as I meditate. When I become
aware that my mind has wandered, I return my awareness to the gentle bursts of
indigo blue, purple, or magenta unfolding before my closed eyes. The wandering
mind is the friend of the meditator because it allows us to notice that our
mind has wandered, and to return our attention to the point of awareness.

This
activity of wandering, noticing, and returning builds a stronger, healthier
brain. This is the activity that creates brain differences in meditators found
in all the neurological research being done with those who meditate.

We
can bring this same practice of awareness to what is happening in our bodies.
When we begin to take notice of what we are feeling in our bodies, we get a lot
of helpful information. I’m not thinking here of, “my knee hurts.” Although
that gives us a certain kind of helpful information. I’m more interested in
what happens when we bring our awareness to the chakra system and the
information it is constantly sending to us, if we will bring our awareness to
gather the information.

The
chakras are not simply a bunch of woo-woo stuff that the new age community
likes to talk about. There is actually some science attached to this. These
centers run through the middle of our bodies, a central energetic core, if you
will. The third and fourth chakras, the belly and the heart-space, have the
largest nerve networks in our bodies outside of the brain. We are truly wired
to sense through these energy centers. This is ancient wisdom, recognized in
the Hindu and Buddhist traditions.

I’ll
write more about each chakra in upcoming posts. For now, here are some brief
descriptions.

The
first chakra is the root. Located at the base of the pelvic floor, it deals
with material needs, like a foundation. Are we safe? Do we have a community?
Enough to eat? Shelter?

The
second chakra is the sacral chakra. Located in the pelvic area, this deals with
money, creativity, relationships, sexuality.

The
third chakra is the solar plexus. It is in the belly and relates to the ego,
personality, and self-esteem. I like to say that this is where our sense of
self sits.

The
fourth chakra is the heart chakra. It is the center of love, forgiveness, and
compassion.

The
fifth chakra is the throat. Think of this as the “voice.” It is related to the
will, self-expression, and personal power.

The
sixth chakra is the third eye, located just above and centered between the
eyebrows. This is the seat of wisdom and intuition.

The
seventh chakra is the crown. It is located at the crown of the head and is the
divine connection. Often when in meditation the crown of my head is tingling.
Once when I was praying for my son he texted me to ask if I was praying for him
because the crown of his head was tingling while he was studying.

I
strongly believe that we receive powerful guidance through our chakras. The
western way of being is all up in the mind, particularly the analytical left
brain. We have to figure things out. Most of our decisions are based on mental
evaluation. But I strongly believe that our body never lies to us, that its
guidance is clear, and that if we lived from that guidance we would have
greater abundance in every area of our lives and more peace.

We
have to listen to our bodies to glean that wisdom found there. You’ve heard of
“going with your gut.” Or you’ve heard people say, “I just knew in my heart.”
They are talking about third and fourth chakra guidance.

A
few years ago I was planning to go to nursing school. I’d been accepted into
Belmont University’s program, done all the prerequisites, and went to the
day-long orientation. Well, through the whole orientation, my stomach just felt
in a swirl. I’m not talking here about an actual digestive upset. Rather it was
a subtler feeling, a “churning” that was my body’s way of letting me know that
I was on the wrong path. I’d been making the decision completely from my head,
that day my body caught my attention. This was a different sensation from fear,
which I primarily experience in a constriction in my heart-space. This was in
my third chakra, my sense of self, telling me that nursing school is not “me.”

Consider
for yourself times when you have said “yes” to something you really wanted to
say, “No” to. How did your stomach area feel?

The
heart is our guide to love. When our heart space is open and humming along, we
are feeling happy and have a flow of love in the fourth chakra. Fear, being the
opposite of love, sits in the heart-space. Think back to a time when you were
afraid and recall the constriction you felt in the fourth chakra. Now think of
someone you love, freely. The heart feels open and warm.

Happiness
and satisfaction can join as we feel a warmth creep up through our third chakra
and into our heart.

The
practice of awareness of these two vital chakras can give us great guidance,
just as it did the day I decided to not go to nursing school.

This
awareness can be beneficial in many ways. When we are struggling, this type of
awareness can guide us, even when we are having heavy feelings. A friend of
mine is going through some changes in her relationship with her mother.
Patterns are changing and my friend is making strong choices on her own behalf.
But this is hard work and my friend is very uncomfortable. She wants to feel
better, which takes time in these circumstances. These are the times when we
can use food, alcohol, shopping, etc., to feel differently. And she noticed
yesterday an impulse to shoplift. She didn’t do it, of course, but because she has
the ability to bring awareness, she can tune into her gut and her heart and ask
herself, “what am I really feeling and what is THAT about?”

This
takes practice. Meditation practice trains the brain to tune-in. We can take
that ability to bring awareness to our bodies to guide us in both small and
large decisions in our lives.

When
have you been guided by your gut or heart? When have you ignored this guidance?